


Beakers And Humming Electrical Equipment

by thefangirlingdead



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Fluff, M/M, and kissing, its all fluff, lots of fluffly fluff, seriously, thats about it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-20
Updated: 2013-08-20
Packaged: 2017-12-24 02:40:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/934280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefangirlingdead/pseuds/thefangirlingdead
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So pretty much, I listened to "First Date" and had to write a little reaction drabble where Carlos hears Cecil gushing about their date on the radio. This is the aftermath.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beakers And Humming Electrical Equipment

Carlos would be lying if he said he didn't tune in to listen to the evening news every night, in order to hear Cecil's voice. If he's being honest, he's been listening to him since the day that he arrived in Night Vale, even if Cecil's description of him - and his obvious school boy crush - had made him blush. At first, it had just been good background noise while he worked - Cecil's milky voice _is_ incredibly easy to get lost in, there's no denying that - but after a couple of weeks, it became routine. He began to look forward to hearing Cecil's voice at the end of his day, even if he did go on and on about some of the most ridiculous things.

_A floating cat, Cecil? Seriously? Now you're just making this stuff up._

But as the weeks passed into months and the months dragged on, teetering on the one year anniversary of the date that he moved to Night Vale, the longing for Cecil's voice - and maybe just Cecil in general - grew. He couldn't deny the way that his face flushed whenever Cecil managed to mention him in passing - _perfect, caring Carlos -_ and he couldn't deny the way it made him want to call Cecil right then and there and ask him out on a date. In fact, he's not even certain why it took him so long to do exactly that, but _finally_ he gathered up the nerve to ask, to which Cecil _excitedly_ agreed.

When he kissed Cecil at the end of their first date, they had both been scared and nervous and unsure, but it had been perfect, regardless. Carlos somehow managed to walk from the car to his door on shaky legs before falling back against it after shutting it behind himself. He felt like a schoolgirl, stomach full of butterflies and head reeling, and it had felt good.

With the whole buzzing shadow energy thing and saving the entire town _yet again_ , Carlos doesn't even have the chance to call Cecil after their date -

(you know, to make sure he got home safe with the buzzing cloud and all, not because he _missed him already_ )

-so he's a little surprised and mostly _flattered_ when he turns on the radio on his drive home the next night, and is immediately met with Cecil's voice, gushing about their first date. In fact, his car veers slightly at the sound of his name leaving Cecil's lips - _that's new_ \- and he feels his face flush.

 _"And so we talked.  Just us and our bleeding mushrooms, and the buzzing shadow-presence, and a blooming haze of romance in the air,"_ Cecil's smooth voice says, loud in the speakers of Carlos' car. He feels himself smile at the word romance, then frowns when Cecil is forced to _do his job_ and read some more news.

It's still dusk out as he drives home from taking samples from the canyon - the sun didn't set at its normal time _again_ , though Carlos is starting to get used to that by now - and he watches the last few traces of sunlight disappear in his mirror, waiting for Cecil to go on. Part of him wants to drive to the radio station instead of home, to watch Cecil perform in person, but another part of him worries that he might get in trouble by doing so. So instead, he drives on, waiting to hear about the rest of their date, even though he knows very well how it went.

Carlos is just _finally_ getting back into town as the weather finishes playing - he's finally getting a hang of the fact that he's never actually going to hear an actual weather forecast - and he smiles again at the return of Cecil's voice. And as he listens to him recount the end of their date in great detail, he knows exactly what's coming up. He knows that Cecil is building up to the kiss, and for some reason, it makes him nervous. He hasn't heard from Cecil since their date, obviously, and while the other man is gushing about it on public radio, he's still nervous to hear what Cecil has to say about it. He drums his fingers nervously on the steering wheel, listening to the milky voice floating through his speakers.

_"'I should probably do something about this buzzing shadow-thing,' he said.  'A few experiments, to see if I can save the town...'"_

Carlos lets his eyes close for a split second, remembering how things had played out clearly in his head. He had decided it was _now or never_ , and if Cecil wasn't going to make the first move, he'd have to, so-

 _"...he leaned forward and kissed me.  Just once.  Just gently.  Just before slipping out of the car and into the lab,"_ Cecil says over the radio, finishing his thoughts.

 _"I’ll tell you, listeners,"_ He continues, thought Carlos' mind is still stuck on the kiss - the beautiful flush on Cecil's cheeks when he had pulled away, the way he looked with that goofy smile stretched across his lips. _"I was almost swallowed by a cloud of malevolent shadow energy on the drive home and I hardly even noticed.  I was so happy."_

And that's when Carlos makes his decision. He swerves into the right lane, just narrowly missing another car and takes an immediate right, toward the radio station instead of his lab. By the time he reaches the parking lot, Cecil is just finishing his broadcast, and Carlos turns off the radio before whatever _ridiculous_ program comes on after him. He pulls into an open parking space facing the door to the station and turns his car off, and then he _sits._

Maybe, he thinks, he should have planned this out better, but after hearing how happy Cecil was on the radio, he needed to see him. He needed to assure him that he felt the same. So he sits in his car, drumming his fingers nervously on the steering wheel, trying to decide if he should sit and wait or if he should go inside and look for Cecil. If listening to his broadcasts has taught Carlos anything, though, it's that he probably shouldn't go inside. What with _literally_ every intern who sets foot in the building inevitably dying and the terrifying sounding _station management_ , he's not sure if he'd even be equipped to deal with it. So instead of getting out and looking for Cecil, he waits.

Well, he waits for about fifteen minutes. _Fifteen minutes_ pass and nobody comes out, and Cecil's car still sits in the parking lot. Fifteen minutes pass before Carlos finally sighs out a deep breath and gets out of his own car. He looks up at the decent sized building, realizing that he doesn't even know where Cecil's studio is located, nor where he would be, and wonders if he's made the right decision. He's made one, however, and he intends to stick with it.

 _Thankfully_ , he doesn't have to worry about interns or station management or the large building, though, because just as he's about halfway to the door, it opens. And of course, it's Cecil who steps outside. His hands are full, one holding a cup of coffee and his keys and the other holding a clipboard with his notes and the news and he doesn't notice Carlos at first, where he stands in the middle of the parking lot, mouth gaping, standing completely still.

Cecil doesn't notice him at first, but when he looks up, car keys in hand, his lips immediately widen into a smile. "Carlos!" He exclaims, taking a few steps forward, "I wasn't expecting you!"

And apparently, that does it, because then Carlos is walking again, rather quickly, until he's yards, then feet from Cecil and-

"What are-"

- _and then_ he's grabbing Cecil firmly and kissing him. It's hard and passionate and fierce and _nothing_ like their first kiss, but it's okay. It's okay, because Carlos can hear the Cecil's sharp intake of breath, and his clipboard clattering to the ground before he's returning the kiss, arms still at his sides, but lips obviously responding.

It doesn't last long, though it's not as fleeting as their first kiss, and when Carlos pulls away, he moves slowly, as if he doesn't want to part from Cecil, not yet. And that's because he doesn't. He never wants to stop kissing him, but at the same time, he never wants to stop hearing that perfect voice and-

"That was..." Cecil starts, cutting Carlos' thoughts short. His eyes are wide. The clipboard rests where it fell, at his feet, and he's got some coffee on his shirt from the force of Carlos grabbing him and kissing him.

"I'm sorry," Carlos immediately apologizes, backpedaling, "I didn't - I was listening to your show, and-"

"You were listening to the show?" Cecil asks, interrupting him, eyes lighting up.

Carlos smiles shyly, scratching at the back of his neck, "I always do."

And if Cecil's eyes could turn into hearts - you know, the ones you see in cartoons - they would be doing exactly that. "What did you think?" He asks excitedly.

"It was great," Carlos replies, smiling back at him, "You’re always great."

"Yeah?" Cecil asks in return. He's practically bouncing back and forth on the balls of his feet like an excited child.

"Yeah," Carlos echoes, taking his chance to explain himself, "Though it made me realize how abruptly our date ended. Hence why I drove over here. And then I needed to kiss you again and..." He trails off, distracted by the grin now playing on Cecil's lips before adding, "Also, I was curious if you'd like to come over. Since I didn't invite you in last night to look at-" He waves his hand in the air, looking for the words that Cecil had used in his broadcast.

" _Beakers and humming electrical equipment_ ," Cecil supplies, grinning. "I'd love to."


End file.
